Patna, Nov. 1: The city turned into a fortress this evening, hours before the arrival of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, late in the night.

Unprecedented security arrangements would be in place for his two-day visit to the state. He is scheduled to meet the relatives of the six persons killed in the serial bomb blasts during the party’s Hunkar Rally at Gandhi Maidan on October 27.

Twelve deputy superintendents of police, 100 inspectors and sub-inspectors, and over 1,000 highly trained personnel of the Special Task Force and the Bihar Military Police have been drafted for the security of Modi. He would be visiting six villages. (See graphic)

After landing in the city in a chartered plane around 11pm, he would spend the night at the state guesthouse. The newly built extension building has been earmarked for Modi, who would be a state guest.

The facility on Desh Ratna Marg has been sanitised. Senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj accompanied by deputy superintendent of police (Secretariat) Manish Kumar reviewed the security arrangements at the guesthouse.

The personnel of the bomb disposal squad carried out a search on the sprawling campus of the guesthouse in the afternoon. Entry of the civilians has been restricted. Maharaj said identity cards had been issued to the police personnel deployed for the security of the Gujarat chief minister.

Four senior police officers from Gujarat, including an additional director-general, inspector-general and two deputy inspectors-general, reached Patna earlier in the day. Separate arrangements have been made for the police officers of Gujarat, who would be a part of Modi’s entourage during his second visit to the state within a week.

Additional director-general (law and order) S.K. Bhardwaj said foolproof security arrangements had been made for Modi. The deputy inspectors-general of Patna central, Shahabad, Munger, Saharsa and Saran have been asked to supervise the arrangements.

Bhardwaj said instructions had been issued to the superintendents of police of Patna, Nalanda, Begusarai, Supaul, Kaimur and Gopalganj to ensure foolproof security for Modi. Helipads have been made and armed forces have been deployed at the villages the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate is scheduled to visit on Saturday, he said.

The ADG (law and order) said anti-sabotage checks had been carried out and bomb disposal squads had been deployed at the respective villages. Deep search metal detectors, hand metal detectors, dog squads and bulletproof vehicles had been provided to the districts on Modi’s itinerary, he added.

He said there would be five-layer security cover for Modi at the villages he would visit.

The state cabinet co-ordination department also issued an order, asking the district magistrates concerned to take all precautionary measures. The order was issued after the chief secretary, A.K. Sinha, took stock of the security arrangements through video conferencing on Thursday.

“Armed police personnel have been deployed on the routes Modi’s entourage would pass through,” a senior police officer said, adding that the roads had been barricaded as a precautionary measure.

Earlier, Bihar director-general of police Abhayanand locked horns with his Gujarat counterpart over the security arrangements for Modi. Sources in the police headquarters said Abhayanand asked Gujarat police chief Pramod Kumar not to worry about the law and order situation in Bihar.